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Lloyd, a member of Columbian Fire Engine Co. No. 1, on West Street in Spring Valley, went missing in the flames. Fellow firefighters searched for him for hours Tuesday before his body was found early Wednesday.
The fire could be seen from the New York State Thruway and drew crews from nearly every one of the county’s 26 all-volunteer fire departments, and from New Jersey.
Rockland County Fire Coordinator Chris Kear said 20 residents were hospitalized, a figure that was later corrected to fewer than a dozen. Two firefighters were taken to Westchester Medical Center: One was released; the other was admitted for smoke-inhalation symptoms. A resident later died at another area hospital.
“That’s what hurts me so much, that those boys are going to miss him. They loved him so much. They loved him as much as I loved him,” said Calvin Lloyd. The pain and heartbreak is still fresh in the community of Spring Valley after a deadly fire turned as assisted living facility into ash. NBC New York s Sarah Wallace reports.
Officials said Lloyd was one of the first firefighters to arrive at the scene. He was on the third floor trying to put out the flames when he became disoriented and eventually trapped there. Lloyd was last heard from when he issued a mayday call, and did not make it out of the building as it collapsed.